Cyclones add offense to strong pitching for division lead

After a home and home series against the Hudson Valley Renegades, the first place McNamara Division Cyclones (9-5) hosted the hottest team in the New York Penn League, the first place Williamsport Crosscutters of the Pinckney Division with a record of 13-1. Maintaining good starting pitching and strong bullpen relief, the Cyclones added some offense to sweep Williamsport in three consecutive games of the home stand by scores of 2-0, 9-2 and 2-1.

Recently called up catcher Brandon Brosher from Kingsport made a splash in Brooklyn when he hit a “moon shot” home run over the left field wall to give the Cyclones an insurance run for the 2-0 win over Williamsport.

Brosher then followed the next day in the first inning against Williamsport with another homer off the scoreboard clearing the bases for a grand slam. Later in the same game, Brosher again cleared the bases; this time with a double to the centerfield gap for a Cyclone record breaking 7 RBI’s for a single game.

Showing such strong offensive power, Brosher is already being compared to the Mets former catcher Mike Piazza.

“If can hit like this I have to find a way to get him into the lineup each day,” said Cyclone Manager Tom Gamboa who also has to find work for two other catchers on his roster. “When he’s not catching we’ll DH him to get his bat into the lineup,” maintained Gamboa.

In addition to Broscher (.333) on offense, the Cyclones have added third baseman David Thompson (.324) from the University of Miami as the Mets’ 4th round draft pick from the recent MLB June draft. Thompson was a first team All-American for the Hurricanes and led the nation with 19 home runs and 90 RBI’s over the span of 67 colligate games. In his breakout game of the season,

Thompson went 4 for 5 to raise his average to .349 in the Cyclones last 5-3 road win over the Hudson Valley Renegades.

Continuing to anchor the Cyclones at second base from day one of this season is also another recent MLB draftee, Vinny Siena from UConn, a former teammate of 2013 Cyclone L. J. Mazzelli. In addition to his defense, Siena is the Cyclones top hitter at .368 with 22 hits while hitting safely in his last 13 out of 14 games.

Although the Cyclone offense is making a statement, the pitching staff is still carrying the team, especially when one and two run games are involved. So far the Cyclone bullpen has been lights out with a 1.26 ERA over 64 innings as Cyclone closer Alex Palsha is leading the league with 5 saves. For the Cyclones starting pitchers, Matt Blackham leads the league with 30 strikeouts.

The New York Penn League has also noticed the Cyclones strong pitching staff early in the season bestowing league honors on one of the Brooklyn staff. Recognized for his 7 inning one hit performance for a 7-0 win over Hudson Valley on July 1, Tyler Badamo was awarded Pitcher of the Week honors.